The Safety of the Outlands
by TolkienScholar
Summary: Life in the Outlands is harsh, brutal, and desolate. But it seems like paradise after what Doti has been through. Nuka will do whatever it takes to nurse her back to health, physically and mentally, and to get her home.
1. Shelter

Nuka looked up at the sky. Lightning had been flashing along the northern horizon for some time, but now the thunder was growing louder, and lightning forked across the sky like cracks in parched ground.

He looked back at Doti. She was lagging a bit behind him. Lightning flashed, illuminating the livid bruises on her face; her eyes were closed. She was on the verge of collapse, a storm was coming, and they were stranded in the middle of the savannah without shelter.

"Hang on, Doti. We'll be safe soon," he said. It was a lie, and she probably knew it. The Doti he knew would have called him on it, said he was blind, mocked him for daring to presume she needed comfort from him. Now, she responded with only a faint whimper. After a timid moment, he moved toward her and rubbed his chin along her neck, one of the few places on her body that was not covered with bruises. She jumped at his touch, and he started to pull away. _Fool! Why do you always have to make things worse?_ he thought. _The trauma she's been through - of course that was a bad idea. Fool!_ But then he felt her body relax, and she sagged against him, the strength she had been barely holding onto suddenly seeping away. He caught her, lowered her gently to the ground, and held her shaking body against him.

They could not stop here. Doti's strength was almost gone, but in the open, they would be a target for vultures, hyenas, and other scavengers. The storm presented perils of its own. He had to find a place where they would be safe. Could he go and search, leaving her there to rest? Nuka looked around. The savannah seemed deserted - but there was no way to be sure.

"Doti," he murmured in her ear. There was no response. "Doti, I've got to go find us shelter." He carefully got to his feet.

Doti's eyes flew open. "Don't leave me!" The words seemed torn from her throat. Her eyes were wild, and she shook still more violently.

Cursing himself, Nuka lay down again and tried to still her. "Shh, shh. It's okay, Doti. He's gone. You're safe; he won't ever hurt you again."

"Don't leave me," was all she could say. "Don't leave me."

"All right. I won't. But then we've got to go on." He looked up at the sky. The rain could start any minute. The thunder was coming closer.

A massive shudder went through Doti's body, and then, without his help, she got to her feet. Nuka moved to steady her. Wordlessly, they went on.


	2. The Roaring

**AN: I have been told that I need to clarify-this is one story, unlike my previous drabbles. It will follow a real time/flashback structure until the backstory is filled in. Thus, this chapter occurs some time before the first. Thank you to DodgerNYC for pointing out that it needed clarification. :)**

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><p>The roaring had begun again. It had been going on for nearly two weeks, night after night, a dreadful roaring that filled the Outlands from one end to the other. It began in the evening and continued until nearly dawn; the days between were merely waiting, holding their breath until the roaring began again.<p>

"Let me go and challenge him," Kovu had said to Zira. "This is our land. He must move on or die."

"No," Zira had answered. "He is older and stronger than you."

No one had dared to ask how she knew.

Zira continued. "He is alone, and he has not directly challenged us. That is a lion who has been exiled by his pride. He wants one thing, and one thing only - a lioness to begin a pride of his own." She looked at her daughter Vitani, whose face was set in grim belligerence. "We must stay close together and protect our own. He has no one to hunt for him; soon he will either move on or die of starvation. Until then, no one is to be out after the sun begins to set."

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><p>Doti had not meant to disobey Zira's order. It was just that… the male lion alone on the savannah might be starving, but so were the lions of Zira's pride. The nightly roaring was keeping the few animals that crossed the Outlands constantly fretful and alert, and even the best hunters were not able to bring down their prey. Doti had been chasing a scraggly herd of gazelles all day. So many times she had gotten so close, only to fail. Now the sun was setting, and she was far from home.<p>

She crept forward. No sounds, no sudden movements. It was her last chance, and if she was going to go back late, it would be better not to go empty-handed. She was close this time. She had a chance.

A terrible sound split the air, and the herd vanished.

He had begun.

Doti shivered. But she was not afraid, not yet. He was not close. If she would only keep her calm, if she was cautious, she could make it back home without encountering him. So she told herself; she had to. She would not think of what Zira had said, of how she was no longer the hunter, but the prey.

The vast emptiness of the savannah confounded all sense of proximity. Mile after mile, the terrible sound grew neither louder nor fainter; Doti could not guess whether she was walking toward the lone male or away from him. At times, the roaring seemed to come from all around her. Was it only her senses, confused by starvation, fatigue, and fear? Or was there some mysterious, some "other" quality to this beast? Was it even a lion at all, or was it some tortured, undead spirit from another world?

_Zira saw him,_ she thought. _She must have seen him if she knew that he is old and strong. He is real._

She would later question the truth of that thought.


End file.
